Udanoceratops
Udanoceratops was a big, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It had a powerful beak and strong jaws that could bite through tough plants, maybe even bone! This dinosaur was one of the largest of its family, the leptoceratopsids.12
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Fun facts
Udanoceratops is the largest known leptoceratopsid, reaching about 4 meters (13 feet) long and weighing around 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds).1
Its skull was deep and robust, with a smooth snout that had no horns or bumps, unlike many other horned dinosaurs.1
The lower jaw of Udanoceratops was very strong, and scientists think it could bite with enough force to possibly break bone.1
Its tail was tall and flattened from side to side, which some scientists once thought meant it lived in water, but now they think it helped the dinosaur walk on soft sand.1
Udanoceratops lived in the Gobi Desert during the Late Cretaceous, about 75 to 71 million years ago, alongside dinosaurs like Protoceratops and Velociraptor.1
The only known fossil of Udanoceratops was discovered by a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition in the 1980s, and its bones were found inside hard calcium carbonate rocks.1
The species name, Udanoceratops tschizhovi, honors D. O. Tschizhov, a colleague of the scientist who first described it.1
Most asked questions about Udanoceratops
?How big was Udanoceratops?
About 4 metres (13 feet) long and 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds). It was the largest known leptoceratopsid.12
?Did Udanoceratops have horns?
No, its snout was completely smooth with no horns or bumps, unlike many other horned dinosaurs.1
?What did Udanoceratops eat?
It was a herbivore, eating tough plants. Its powerful beak and strong jaws were used for shearing vegetation.12
?Could Udanoceratops swim?
Probably not. Scientists once thought it might be semi-aquatic because of its tall tail, but now they think that shape helped it walk on soft sand.1
?When did Udanoceratops live?
It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 81 to 71 million years ago.2
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Udanoceratops was a small dinosaur like other leptoceratopsids.
Truth: Udanoceratops was actually the largest known leptoceratopsid, reaching about 4 meters long.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Udanoceratops
- Named by
- Kurzanov 19923
- Group
- Horned dinos
- Family / clade
- Leptoceratopsidae3
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ceratopsia3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Djadokhta3
- Countries
- Mongolia3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Udanoceratops was named by Russian paleontologist Sergei Kurzanov in 1992. The fossils were found in the 1980s during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition at the Udan-Sayr locality in Mongolia.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating whether Udanoceratops could walk on two legs or only on all fours, and whether it lived partly in water.1
Where the facts come from
- Udanoceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
- Udanoceratops | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Udanoceratops in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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